Ranking Online Colleges – 2015: Methodologies

TeachTomorrow.org provides students with in-depth research and expert-driven information about college and career opportunities in the field. Part of this mission centers on rankings, which can help Teaching and Education program seekers make smarter decisions based on individual academic wants and needs. While some rankings can be subjective, data analysts and higher education experts at TeachTomorrow.org spent months analyzing cost and quality metrics from the Integrated
Post-Secondary Education Data System (IPEDS), the Carnegie Foundation and from the schools themselves to create the most accurate and highest quality product possible. For more information about our rankings processes, please don’t hesitate to Contact Us directly.

Best Online Teaching Degrees 2015

General criteria:

Must offer a bachelor’s degree or higher

Must be a public or private not-for-profit institution

Must offer at least one fully online bachelor’s degree program in Education/Teaching

Scoring metrics:

Online tuition rate

Count of online bachelor’s degrees available in field

Student-faculty ratio (undergraduate)

6-year graduation rate

Percent of students receiving financial aid

Academic and career counseling services

EPP Program accreditation

TeachTomorrow.org’s Peer-Based Value (PBV)*

Best Online Master’s in Education Programs for 2015

The schools that earned top spots on our Best Online Master’s in Education Programs list showed a winning combination of affordability, quality and support services to help students earn the advanced credential they need. Criteria and scoring details include:

Must be a four-year degree-granting institution

Must have public/not-for-profit status

Must have at least one online Master’s in Education program

Key scoring metrics:

Online tuition cost

Academic & career counseling services

Job placement services for graduates

TeachTomorrow.org’s Peer-Based Value (PBV)*

*PBV : A metric unique to TeachTomorrow.org rankings that compares the quality score of a program to the scores of other programs with similar costs. In turn, it also compares the cost of a program to the costs of others with similar quality scores. In short, PBV illustrates the cost/quality value of an online Master’s in education program.